INTRODUCTION
As students’ progress in their education, they will at some point become part of a professional academic community that extends beyond their institution. At that point, they may want to create a common reference library to support collaboration. Doing so requires students to work with others to formulate the rules by which everyone participates. In this activity, students learn how to work with others to define guidelines for a common reference library that supports collaboration.Â
LEARNING OUTCOMES
On completion of this activity, students will be able to:Â
- Formulate rules for sharing a reference library with an external professional community.
- Understand the definitions of academic content and what the end results are.
- Establish rules for validation and processing of imported references.
- Understand the copyright rules that relate to external collaborations.
- Participate in academic digital communities.
HOW TO DELIVER THISÂ ACTIVITY
This activity is aimed at students who need to enter into collaborations with professionals/students outside their institution. It requires students to have prior knowledge of reference programs.
BEFORE THE ACTIVITY Â
- Ask students to decide what their common reference library will be used for, e.g., an assignment, article, or repository.Â
- Ask students to check which reference programs are available at their institution. Â
THE ACTIVITY: STEP BY STEP
Step 1
- Define the purpose of their community, i.e., what is their common reference library to be used for?
- Agree a common reference program that is accessible for all involved and can be used with the desired word processing program.
- Assign an administrator to their library and to agree the rights that will be granted to group members.
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
Step 7
Step 8
After the activity
EDUCATOR TO-DOÂ
- Prepare an example of a shared reference library and introduce various reference programs e.g., Endnote, Zotero, Mendeley.Â
- Prepare examples of source criteria and citation rules that students may consider using.Â
- Provide examples of different reference styles.Â
DESIGNED BY
Anne Bagger, Henrik Tang, Bo Søgaard Jensen, Copenhagen University Library, Denmark.